Hot Sports Takes
Warning: you might want to put some space between you and whatever screen you’re reading these on. For they are extremely hot sports takes![1] I must be getting old. I actually kind of enjoyed the Chicago Cubs clinching their NLDS against St. Louis yesterday. In fact, I found it pretty damn cool. I say that’s a sign of age because…
R’s: To The Brink And Back
This time I got to watch. Fifty-four weeks ago, when the Royals made their insane comeback against Oakland in the Wild Card game, we were in the final hours of our Time Without Cable.[1] Thus I was huddled up with my computer and a bluetooth speaker, listening to the Royals radio broadcast deep into the night. Yesterday, I got to…
Friday Vid
“Leave A Trace” – CHVRCHES One of the big music surprises of 2013, on multiple levels, were CHVRCHES. Their opening single, “The Mother We Share,” came out of nowhere and was an utter delight. Still, it felt like a bit of a novelty, unlikely to be followed by anything else as engaging. The second surprise came with the release of…
R’s: October Baseball
What a difference a year makes. This time last year, the Royals had just come off their epic – no EPIC – win over Oakland in the Wild Card series and were headed to Anaheim to take on the Angels, who had the best record in the American League. Would there be an emotional hangover from the Wild Card win?…
September Books
I believe I’ve mentioned a time or two (or three) that I spent nearly a month wading through a beast of a book. Now I have to write about said beast. Cripes. The good news (for me at least) is that despite the time spent on that book, I remain at book-a-week pace for the year. The Woman Who Lost…
Seven, Again
Last weekend, for the first time since mid-August, we had no cross country meets, no soccer games, no out-of-town guests, no trips to the lake planned. It was nice to have an easy, early fall weekend to sit around and decompress a bit. Well, we did have one big thing on the calendar: L. turned seven on Saturday! Thanks to…
Friday Vid
“Laced” – DMA’s A rather goofy video, that really isn’t worth watching, for a pretty spectacular song. In fact, just hide this window while the song is playing and enjoy the sounds. DMA’s take a little Arctic Monkeys, some Oasis, and a heavy dose of classic Australian jangle-pop, and end up with some often gorgeous, if derivative, music.
1989 X 2
I’ve kicked this around for nearly two weeks, so I suppose it’s time to finally convert the thoughts into text. I would not call this an album review proper, but rather a few musings about Ryan Adams’ cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989. Ryan Adams is no stranger to covering other people’s music. His set lists are peppered with songs from…
R’s: Clinchin’
(As I prefer to focus on the many positives, I’ll save my thoughts on the Royals’ September and prospects for October until next week.) I had a bit of a rough weekend. Some stomach issues. A couple late nights and early mornings. Mid-day naps to counter those. Everything felt a bit off. And I guess it all started Thursday night,…
Kid Sports
In reverse order of age this time, your periodic Kid Sports Update. L., and her whole soccer team, rebounded nicely from their rough first week. Playing against teams that have not been full of second graders like their first opponent, they’ve won two-straight games in shutouts. She scored three goals last week and two yesterday. Most impressively, her team is…